Some history:
In 1859 Colonel Drake drilled the first oil well in Titusville, Pensylvania, USA. Ignacy Łukasiewicz is the inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil.

About Petroleum ( From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, November 27th 2008)

Petroleum (from Medieval Latin petroleum, from Greek πετρα (petra) - stone, ολέον – oil; in ancient greek πετρέλαιον (petrelaion) πετρα + έλαιον (elaion) "olive oil, any oily substance".) or crude oil is a naturally occurring liquid found in formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons (mostly alkanes) of various lengths. The approximate length range is C5H12 to C18H38. Any shorter hydrocarbons are considered natural gas or natural gas liquids, while longer hydrocarbon chains are more solid, and the longest chains are coal. In its naturally occurring form, it may contain other nonmetallic elements such as sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. It is usually black or dark brown (although it may be yellowish or even greenish) but varies greatly in appearance, depending on its composition. Crude oil may also be found in semi-solid form mixed with sand, as in the Athabasca oil sands in Canada, where it may be referred to as crude bitumen.

Petroleum is used mostly, by volume, for producing fuel oil and gasoline (petrol), both important "primary energy" sources. 84% (37 of 42 gallons in a typical barrel) of the hydrocarbons present in petroleum is converted into energy-rich fuels (petroleum-based fuels), including gasoline, diesel, jet, heating, and other fuel oils, and liquefied petroleum gas.

The Netherlands
Central Public Service Corporation, certificate, 25 by 18 cm, +
attached coupon sheet, of ten shares class A stock, without nominal
value, orange / green decorative border, with orange printed seal,
issued in Amsterdam, 1929, 50 Euro.This company is a daughter of the Central Public
Utility Corporation

Central Public Utility Corporation, certificate for 10 shares class
A stock, without nominal value,25 by 18 cm, + coupon sheet, issued
in
Amsterdam, 1925 -1933, green decorative border, orange printed tax
seal,
15 Euro Established in 1932
under Delaware law as a result of the reorganization of her daughter
company, the Central Public Service Corp. She gained control over
this central Public Service Corp. and over the Consolidated Electric
& Gas Company.

Koninklijke Nederlansche Maatschappij tot
Exploitatie van Petroleumbronnen in Nederlandsch-Indie
( Royal Dutch
Company for the Working of Petroleum Wells in Netherlands India)
In 1949 the name of the company became: Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum
Maatschappij (Royal Dutch Petroleum
Company)

The company was established in 1895 (approved by Royal
decrete in 1896) for the exploitation of concessions
near
Palembang on Southern Sumatra.

It was a daughter company of the Royal
Dutch Company for the Working of Petroleum Wells in Dutch Easdt Indies (established in 1890),
since
1949 named Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (Royal Duch, for short)

In 1896 3000
ordinary shares
(aandelen) of f 100 (f = Dutch Guilders) were issued. The Capital was f 300.000. In that year 2 types of founder shares were issued as well, giving right to 1/120th or giving right to 1/1200th part of the profits. I also know a founder share from 1898, numbered 659 with Roman number VIII, as a partly replacement of a similar numbered original founder share that gave right to 1/120th of the profits the founders were entitled to.

The shares from 1896 show the facsimile signatures of the Director, A.P. de Lange, and of Commissaris (Board member) Jean Baptiste Kessler, the 2nd director in row of "Royal Dutch", until he died in 1900.

In 1898 the capital was brought to 1 million guilders and again ordinary shares of 100 guilders each were issued. The ordinary shares issued in 1898 were signed by other functionaries and so was the founder share no. 659-VIII that I know of.

Available for sale are the following stocks: Nederlandsch-Indische Exploratie-Maatschappij, te 's Gravenhage (Dutch-East Indies Exploration Company, seated in The
Hague):

Deze maatschappij is opgericht door de bekende Heerlense olie-industriëel Jan Koster (1875-1935), die met dit bedrijf later aansluiting zocht bij de Phoenix Oil and Transport Co. , waarvan hij bij oprichting vice-president werd. In 1918 was hij via zijn bedrijf Mijnbouwkundige Werken één van de mede-oprichters van het Hoogoven Staalbedrijf in Ijmuiden, waar hij commissaris werd. English: Petroleum-Maatschappij "ORION" was established by the Dutch entrepeneur Jan Koster (1875-1935), who merged the company later with Phoenix Oil and Transport Co, where he acted as vice-president from the start. Through his company Mijnbouwkundige Werken he was one of the founders of the Hoogoven Staalbedrijf in Ijmuiden (Steelworks in Ijmuiden).

Phoenix Oil and Transport Company Ltd.
Nationale Trust Compagnie, certificaat van 25 aandelen, ieder groot
1 £ Sterling, in de Phoenix Oil and Transport Company Ltd.,
Londen,
issued in Amsterdam, 1923, prijs 10 Euro. English:Certificate of 25 shares of1 £,
issued in Amsterdam by the Nationale Trust Compagnie in 1923. The company was established on June 24th 1920 as a merger of the
Anglo Continental Oil Company Ltd. and the Masterson Roumanian Oil
Syndicate Ltd. In 1923 they got control over the Orion Petroeum
Maatschappij and with
that also over the Arnhemsche petroleum maatschappij, that was
liquidated in that year. They also controlled "Unirea", S.A.R. de
Petrol in Bukarest and with that the Roumanian Consolidated Oilfields
Ltd. In 1946. They had 2 oil refineries in Ploesti, many other
factories, pipe lines and also
storage facilities in the harbour of Constanza (source: Van Oss
effectenboek 1945/'46).